Seasonal ingredient of the week: Aubergine
IN SEASON: October - February
We’ve never met an aubergine dish we didn’t love. Soaking up flavour like a sponge, they work in everything from curries and Asian dishes to BBQ’s and babaganoush.
The key to great aubergine is cooking it for long enough - rubbery aubergine is never pleasant but way too common. Cooked properly, aubergine can be soft, charred and complex in flavour (especially if you cook it over an open flame a ‘la Ottolenghi).
TIPS:
- Look for shiny, smooth, firm aubergines - if they’re soft, dull or marked they’re past their prime and will have a stronger bitter taste
- Bigger doesn’t always mean better when it comes to vegetables. Choosing smaller aubergines will means a slightly less bitter, more sweet flavour.
- Aubergine soaks oil up just like it does flavour. If you’re planning on pan-frying your aubergine, try adding a little flour or corn flour to it beforehand to create a barrier. This will result in delicious, crispy aubergine
- If you try cooking aubergine on an open flame, just be mindful of how much of a smoky flavour you want - anymore than 5 minutes on the flame and it can get quite overpowering. Try a mix of roasting and using an open flame for a mellower flavour (yes, this quite niche tip comes from experience).
Recipe:
BABAGANOUSH
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2 large aubergines
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp parsley
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cumin
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1. Preheat your oven to 200ºC and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Place both aubergines over a naked flame on your grill (or skip straight to the oven if you don’t have a gas hob) and leave for 5 minutes, rotating often (we recommend keeping an eye on them the whole time, just to be safe).
2. Halve both aubergines lengthwise and brush the cut sides lightly with olive oil. Place them on the tray, halved sides down.
3. Roast the eggplant until the interior is very tender throughout and the skin is collapsing, about 35 to 40 minutes (this might take longer depending on the size). Set them aside to cool for a few minutes. Flip the aubergine over and scoop out the flesh with a large spoon, leaving the skin behind.
4. Place a mesh strainer over a mixing bowl, then transfer the flesh to the strainer and discard the skins. Pick out any stray bits of aubergine skin and discard. You want to remove as much moisture from the aubergine here as possible, so let it rest for a few minutes and shake/stir it to release some more liquid.
5. Discard all of the liquid, drain and wipe out the bowl, then add the remaining aubergine to the bowl. Add the garlic and lemon juice to the aubergine and stir with a fork until the aubergine breaks down. Add the tahini to the bowl and stir until it’s incorporated. While stirring, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Continue stirring until the mixture is pale and creamy, using your fork to break up any particularly long strings of aubergine.
6. Stir in the parsley, salt and cumin. Season to taste with more salt and lemon juice if needed